Just look at the difference between them, wow, hopefully your little one there does not try to stuff big bird through one of the subs ports!!

Now I completely agree with your decision to switch / upgrade!

My job is in question as layoff notices are flying, or my new 115" Elune Reference tab screen and the AE4000U would already be running right now, but oh well, I've never been laid-off from work, ever, 20 years and never had to worry.... Your room looks AWESOME!

Thanks Chad, it has been a solid upgrade.

Hoping you are not one of those that get a pink slip. Lots of that still going around, if something does happen let me know. I have some contacts in the area and you never know

Been awhile. Not too many updates, aside from that we use the media area and playroom all the time. Entertaining is a blast.

We have just set an all-time record for rainfall here in the burbs of Minneapolis. And I have been slightly stressing about my sump pump. It has run quite a bit lately and I have no backup. It's also the builders grade pump and I have had three neighbors who have had their pump fail..

So, I called my trusty plumber and he recommended the Liberty Jetsump system for backup. It uses city water to literally push the water out of the sump pit and requires no battery/power. No maintenance on batteries, no worries about extended power outages... Very cool.

I am going to have him replace the cheap builders grade sump pump with a much more powerful (quiet) commercial grade sump pump as well that should last about 15 years.

Will take some pics after it is installed, and also more pics of the basement. Still need barstools!

Let us know how that back up system works out. I too have been fretting over all the rain and frequent power outages we have around here. I had my basement flood once from a failed sump pump, and that was more than enough.

Well, back at the end of May, with me being in New Hope, my sump was working over time too, I'm glad I replaced my sump pump last year, bought the same model the drain tile company installed many years ago, but I've wondered about having a back-up system installed, just never got around it, so it's probably a good idea!

Speaking about bar stools, I told a co-worker about http://www.barstools.com, and he bought 6 to 8 bar stools, just like the ones on the main page, they look like cherry with black leather, and he loves them, saved a ton rather buying from local store.

I noticed that you had a harmony 1100 universal remote. How do you like it? I need some form of universal remote system, but I am not sure which to get. I am looking at the Harmony One, 900 and 1100. I'm leaning toward the versions that support RF. What do you think and how has your experience been with them?

Ack_bk,
I noticed that you had a harmony 1100 universal remote. How do you like it? I need some form of universal remote system, but I am not sure which to get. I am looking at the Harmony One, 900 and 1100. I'm leaning toward the versions that support RF. What do you think and how has your experience been with them?
thanks

I have owned several Harmony remotes and I really like the 1100. I am using it as an IR remote, and there have been few issues (I had a few issues getting the software updated on it via my iMac, but after I rebooted the computer and reset the cable it worked fine). I went through the same process you did deciding which Harmony remote to but, but decided with kids and my wife I wanted a large color touch screen that is easily programmable and the 1100 fits the bill. I actually bought mine used/refurbished from Ebay for a really good price and, from what I can tell, it was brand new. It typically holds a charge for well over a few weeks and it seems pretty durable. There is a lot of support for the remote and it has been responsive.

We had a babysitter over a few weeks ago, and with no instructions, the kids watched a movie with her and she told me she just pressed the "watch a movie" button and it was just that easy

I need to get some updated pics of the room posted. We just added some DVD storage cabinets, and my wife has a couple of art projects going on for the space, and she found some bar stools she liked.

I also wanted to go into more detail on the new sump pump and backup system that uses city water to push water out of the pit. I can say the new main pump is considerably more quiet than the old one. You cannot hear it at all unless you are in the storage room where it is located.

I have owned several Harmony remotes and I really like the 1100. I am using it as an IR remote, and there have been few issues (I had a few issues getting the software updated on it via my iMac, but after I rebooted the computer and reset the cable it worked fine). I went through the same process you did deciding which Harmony remote to but, but decided with kids and my wife I wanted a large color touch screen that is easily programmable and the 1100 fits the bill. I actually bought mine used/refurbished from Ebay for a really good price and, from what I can tell, it was brand new. It typically holds a charge for well over a few weeks and it seems pretty durable. There is a lot of support for the remote and it has been responsive.
We had a babysitter over a few weeks ago, and with no instructions, the kids watched a movie with her and she told me she just pressed the "watch a movie" button and it was just that easy
I need to get some updated pics of the room posted. We just added some DVD storage cabinets, and my wife has a couple of art projects going on for the space, and she found some bar stools she liked.
I also wanted to go into more detail on the new sump pump and backup system that uses city water to push water out of the pit. I can say the new main pump is considerably more quiet than the old one. You cannot hear it at all unless you are in the storage room where it is located.

Thanks - I really appreciate the feedback on the 1100. I was thinking that there were too many buttons on the other harmony remotes for the Mrs. to deal with. I may have to suck it up and buy one.

I am also planning on adding DVD storage to my room as well and remove the 4 sided turn style - I've been promising my wife for a year and a half now. I need to build a corner unit with shelving and have a custom face plate built so that it matches the fireplace surround.

Glad you are happy with the new sump pump and back-up. My last house had a sump pump and I always had a spare pump sitting on a shelf, but that meant I needed to be around (and notice) when it failed. I had the switch float fail on one once. Although I was screwed if the power went out for any extended period of time. I'm told that a year after we sold, the neighborhood lost power for a week due to an ice storm and they did not have a generator. They had 2+ feet of water in the basement as a result. My new house does not need one - at least not in the last 5 years anyway. I added gutters this past spring to further divert water away from the house foundation as a precaution.

Thanks - I really appreciate the feedback on the 1100. I was thinking that there were too many buttons on the other harmony remotes for the Mrs. to deal with. I may have to suck it up and buy one.

Honestly, I think the bold is a great point and something that my wife did not like about our previous Harmony remote. With the 1100 it is a very simple interface. As I mentioned, a 15 year old babysitter who had never seen one before had no problem playing a movie. I was on the fence so much I decided to buy a refurbished one in case I did not like it and could essentially sell it for what I paid. Having owned it for 6 months or so now I can tell you that I would have paid more money to get the remote vs the other remotes.

Quote:

I am also planning on adding DVD storage to my room as well and remove the 4 sided turn style - I've been promising my wife for a year and a half now. I need to build a corner unit with shelving and have a custom face plate built so that it matches the fireplace surround.

Yeah, I own somewhere between 300-400 Blu-Ray discs (and a pile more DVD's), and they are literally in moving boxes. So I am constantly digging through the boxes trying to find movies I wanted to watch.. I started a big landscaping project (and now a large outdoor playset for the kids), and then helped a neighbor with his home theater so have not had much spare time considering I have three young children to build a storage unit..

Congrats on the new DVD shelving - it looks really nice. I am stuck building a corner unit as I said, but it is difficult trying o find the time to even draw it out - especially with it being so nice out these days.

long time lurker around here, but saw your build, was seriously impressed, and figured I'd try and get a bit more info from ya...

My big hang up is on the soundproofing side of things... based on how much bass you are pumping out now, how much bass is heard upstairs on the first floor, and is any leaking up to the bedrooms? are you getting any transmission through the HVAC ducts?

I want to take steps to control that the best i can, but i'd honestly rather be putting money spent on green glue, extra drywall, and a second HVAC solution for the basement into electronics, and a nice bar...

Thanks - great feedback.. You really helped with my decision.
Congrats on the new DVD shelving - it looks really nice. I am stuck building a corner unit as I said, but it is difficult trying o find the time to even draw it out - especially with it being so nice out these days.

long time lurker around here, but saw your build, was seriously impressed, and figured I'd try and get a bit more info from ya...
My big hang up is on the soundproofing side of things... based on how much bass you are pumping out now, how much bass is heard upstairs on the first floor, and is any leaking up to the bedrooms? are you getting any transmission through the HVAC ducts?
I want to take steps to control that the best i can, but i'd honestly rather be putting money spent on green glue, extra drywall, and a second HVAC solution for the basement into electronics, and a nice bar...
Thanks for the inspiring build,
-jack

First of all, thank you for the kind words. I have to say, I am pretty impressed with R13 in the walls R19 in the ceiling, 5/8" drywall on the ceiling, and solid core doors. I listen pretty loud and the VTF-15 is no slouch. I have never woken up the kids, but keep in mind they are two floors above and, for the most part not directly above where most of the sound is coming from. My kids are also sund sleepers, but I have out in several movies late at night (Inception recently) that really had lots of bass, and the kids slept right through it.

You can hear some sound on the floor directly above, but with no bedrooms on the main level, it has not been an issue.

You have a tough choice, and every house is different. But if your bedrooms are two floors above your basement you should be okay unless you have sensitive sleepers or you plan on playing at reference levels or higher. I will try and play some LFE heavy tracks this week and measure upstairs with my SPL meter in a kids bedroom to give you an idea. Like I said though, I have never woken anyone up. I am pretty happy.

You could try just installing hat channel and clips to decouple the walls....

First of all, thank you for the kind words. I have to say, I am pretty impressed with R13 in the walls R19 in the ceiling, 5/8" drywall on the ceiling, and solid core doors. I listen pretty loud and the VTF-15 is no slouch. I have never woken up the kids, but keep in mind they are two floors above and, for the most part not directly above where most of the sound is coming from. My kids are also sund sleepers, but I have out in several movies late at night (Inception recently) that really had lots of bass, and the kids slept right through it. You can hear some sound on the floor directly above, but with no bedrooms on the main level, it has not been an issue.

+1.

This is also what I've always done myself and what I've done with my basement remodel currently underway: Fill the ceiling cavity with insulation, a single layer of drywall on the ceiling, and solid core doors.

Doing adequate sound isolation is not difficult, doing extreme isolation gets very hard as the weakest item letting through sound will all of a sudden show up. For example, it may be really easy to go from 30 to 35db of isolation but really hard to go from 35 to 40 or 45 to 50. The higher you want to go the more everything starts to come into play.

For example, no point in doing double drywall/green/glue/resilient channel if most of the sound is coming through the ducts. You'd use duct dampening and decouple them first and see. Then you may notice sound coming through the doors (the new weakest link) and you work on those. Then maybe the walls become the issue so you go with another layer of drywall and resilient channel or something. Then the ducts become the problem again... and so on.

The problem is that it's not easy to go in itterative steps like thos so people will often instead go to extremes and do *everything* to the maximum at great expense without considering how they actually use the room. That's important too. We never crank a movie and have people trying to sleep on the floor directly above or adjacent to the HT so some leakage out of the room is perfectly fine for us. YMMV. By the time it gets to the second floor it just sounds like a distant (quiet) rumble if you hear anything at all.

The problem is having a reference to work off of to know how much isolution you need and what works. At our old house the basement HT was open concept and completely drywalled (walls/ceiling) but there was no insulation at all, no resilient channel, nothing special. Just a single layer of 1/2" drywall on strapping on the ceiling. The staircase was even open to the basement! (Basement was done by the previous owner). The kids would sleep 2 floors up and with their doors mostly closed you could barely make out a rumble 2 floors below. Worked for us. So in my second HT that I'm building from scratch I'm "only" adding insulation in the ceiling and a basement door. I could go all out and do resilient channel, 2 layers drywall, green glue, etc, but why bother if what we had before was adequate for us? The little bit extra we're doing (door & insulation) is inexpensive and should result in even lower volumes on the second floor than we're used to. Money saved.

One thing to keep in mind too is as the kids get older THEY may be the ones having the late night parties/movies while YOU'RE trying to sleep. Hopefully I'm as sound a sleeper as they are.

Been awhile. I have thoroughly been enjoying the space with the family. We literally use it every day for TV, movies, playroom, etc. We have 1-2 family movie nights per week where the kids pick out a movie and we make homemade popcorn. That alone has been worth every penny, but my wife and I watch almost all our TV and movies in th room.

We picked up some bar stools months ago (will post a picture), along with the media rack. That said, I have been getting the itch to do a project and have recently acquired four 15" Dayton DVC385-88 drivers during their crazy holiday sale. I picked up a Behringer iNuke 3K DSP pro amp, and will be building four 3.5 cu ft (internal) sealed subwoofers over the upcoming weeks.

I also just picked up a very gently used Darby Darblet off the Bay to see what the hype is all about. For those that don't know, the Darblet is an affordable external video processor that applies processing to a picture to give it more pop. Supposedly it is highly tunable and if you keep the settings tame, it will not present an overly processed image. It also works well in 3D as well as 2D. Will share my thoughts.

There is also a rumor that Santa may be bringing an air hockey table for the family soon too

Wow, another year gone by.. What has been up with the room? Well, I completed my custom subwoofer build early last year. They really can dig down low and there is more mid-bass punch as well. There are two up front, and two in the rear of the room. Audyssey XT has them dialed in pretty good:

Ack sub vs an Hsu VTF-15H:

My Acer HD9500BD PJ died recently (only about 26 months of use) and I picked up an Optoma 131Xe. Very happy with it (it is hanging up in the picture, but I need to clean up the cabling) it has a Dark Chip 3 chipset and once you dial it in, it has a great picture. It also has an RF transmitter for 3D which I find to be better than DLP Link (better contrast, no concerns about losing signal when turning my head).

Also got one of these on launch day:

It is supposed to be a Christmas present but I did fire it up a few times

We are really enjoying the space, we use it almost everyday and family movie night is a weekly event that the kids love. I just finished Breaking Bad on Blu-Ray and it was so much fun on the 125" screen.

Next up.. My wife picked up blackout liner to sew into our curtains which should help with ambient light during the day. Aside from the PS4, nothing else planned for awhile but would like to upgrade a a higher end receiver sometime next year. That said, I have a new toy that takes up a lot of my money and time (track days):

Still looking good. A couple quick questions for you. Do you experience ambient light issues from the white ceiling and light colored walls when you watch at night? Do you use a white or grey screen? Oh and nice car too. Thanks